The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-30
wINKIE CoNovER's CORPSE.
The Remains of the Burglar Who
Plunged Into the Raritan

From the Ne,g York Erenino sun.
The remnant of a human body was found
Wednesday in a meadow which the Raritan
river washes about two miles below Bound
Brook. 1t was possible only to recognize it
as part of what had once been the body
of a man. The flesh was almost all gone.
The corruption indicated that it had been
for many weeks in the water. 1t was proba
| bly, a part of the body of Winkie Conover,
though this conjecture rests merely upon
what happened TO Winkie Conover when he
was last seen.
Then he was swimming the icy river to
escape from men and bullets, and before he
reached the shore that would put the river
! between him and his purSuerS he groaned,
| then sank, and his body went under the ice
! Since then no trace of Conover has been
discovered, and though at first men who
knew him said that he was a cunning water
rat, who was able to dive under the ice,
swim a long way under water, and thus es-
cape, yet, when nothing was ever again
heard of him, it was regarded as certain that
| this disappearance was no trick but that he
was dead.
| Wrinkle Conover was burglar, and he
was engaged in a petty burglary on the
night when he disappeared.
On the night of Feb. 0, of this year,
|
fee in Bound Brook noticed that hight
that was kept burning all night in the store
| of Albaugh & Butts was very bright. The
night was dark and very cold. Everybody
| IN the little village was asleep except the
| operator and ten or twelve railway en-
| ployes. The light was so unusually bright
that the operator, George Somers, watched
| it from the platform of the railway station
| He soon saw what appeared to be the
| shadows of men in the store, He went
across the street, that he might see better,
and then he discovered that two men were
| robbing the store and the post Office, which
| is in the store.
| Somers told the railway employees that
| burglars were at work i'll the store and the
| idea of capturing them was just the kind of
| fun the trainmen wanted to pass waiting
hour away. They started out to surround
| the building, but it occurred to them that
| the burglars pistols would be a strong de-
| tense, for not one of them had any weapon
| but stick
Very quietly Somers and the others went
about the village and awakened men who
possessed firearms The proprietor of the
hotel, George Goddis, hastily dressed and
came out with double-barrelled shotgun.
James Hogan was but few minutes in
| dressing and loading his gun, and in a few
moments dozen men armed with all kinds
of firearms approached the store.
A face appeared at the window in the
store. The burglars had heard the men
outside, and one quick look revealed that
there was no possibility of escape, except by
| fighting way through the Gordon. The
burglars ran to the back end of the store,
evidently meaning to get out by back
door. The men stood in front of the door
with their arms cooked, ready to shoot
when the burglars made the break.
OF a sudden the door was burst open, and
a man whose white shirt offered a good
target in the moonlight rushed out. He
turned toward the railroad track and was so
feet that not a shot was fired at him. The
party followed him. however One of them
tried to head him off and trip him Somers,
the telegraph operator, who was not armed,
was f1eeter footed than the Others and was
able in a moment almost to grasp the
| burglar The men with the firearms dared
| not shoot, for Somers and another man
were between them and the burglar. Land
| lord Goddis stood with his double-barrelled
| bird gun at his shoulder waiting for
| chance. He is an expert shot,
and believed he could bring down
the burglar when he had fair aim.
Somers and the other pursuer for the in
slant ran to one side, leaving an opening
through which Goddls took rapid aim and
fired. The charge was heavy one and the
| report was very loud Goddis was surpris-
| co 10 $50 UIl6 SOlll OE HIS lieu, DuU
| Somers saw him stagger a moment, as
| though about to fall He must have had a
| large part of the heavy charge in his back,
| but he recovered himself, and though firing
was began, and several volleys from re-
volver and gun were discharged, the bur-
glar seemed not to be hit But he stopped
| for an instant and fired three shots from his
| revolver at the pursuers.
Then he turned again. He scrambled up
+ba l,aI1 Z
| cat, and went down the other side. The
railway is fenced in by barbed wire fence.
The burglar threw his body against these
| barbs, and with such impulsion that he
broke the fence down. He must have
mangled himself dreadfully, but he kept
right on, making for strip of marshy
meadow that lay between the Raritan river
| and the railway.
No one thought he would try to escape by
| the river. The water was very high and
running in rapid current, that carried
| driftwood and loosened cakes of ice along at
| great speed. But that was mis- plan for es-
| cape. He was going to swim the river, not
outstanding the ice, the current, and the
cold. Somers was right at his heels, rush
ing as rapidly as possible through the
marshy meadow. On the brink of the river
! the burglar stopped moment. He tore off
a pair of rubbers which were on his feet,
and then threw them at Somers, saying.
Come on, now Follow me if you dare"
and then plunged into the river. He struck
out for the opposite shore, and his vigorous
strokes and the strong current carried him
| in moment well in toward the other side
Then Somers heard him groan. Either
the chill or his wounds had disabled him.
and the next moment Somers saw his head
which had been bobbing up and down with
the current disappear, while his hat fioated
away with the current.
The rest of the pursuers had seen all this
| from the railroad track, and they hurried
down to the bridge and crossed over it,
Thus they expected to catch the burglar
when he reached the opposite shore.
| But they waited there in surprise that no
| did not come, and they called at the two
| men who stood on the bridge to head him
| off if he decided to go down with the cur
rent; but these men said he had not passed.
Then one of them saw the hat, and was
about to shoot at it, but the other begged
him not to. Don't shoot him in the water"
he said, and his companion put down his
gun.
Somers came up and said that the man
had gone down, and so the party walked up
and down both banks and even searched the
country far and near until daylight. But
they saw no more of the burglar who went
down under the ice cakes.
Some of the party remained at the store
to capture the other burglar. A mans